90. The Prepared Practitioner

(Epistemic status: the obligatory EDC post; heavily prescriptive on strong grounds and long experience; check out what's cluttering up my Bag of Holding.)

There is maybe one website I will happily link to on this blog, ever, and it is how.complexsystems.fail . It's a favorite; it's pretty much just text with some sourcing for bona fides, and a frame for understanding, well... how it is that complex systems end up failing. It's a shockingly broadly applicable way to think; one of those things where once you start looking, you'll see it everywhere. Traffic and accidents; medical care and iatrogenic ailments (not just hospital-acquired infections but also cutting the wrong leg off); political systems and their dysfunctions (and just how easy it is for a single bad-actor practitioner to ruin a lot); social groups and their collapses; cooking and ruined dishes. And, perhaps most dubiously at first blush, navigating daily life.

Listen: I am a fan of the OSHA-coded "dumbass-positive" frame, in which every skill check needed to navigate daily life is a trip hazard to be avoided. Every scrap of effort and thought that you devote to dealing with mundane preventable issues is a scrap that can't be put towards anything interesting and exciting, and every avoidable risk taken and morale lost is a bit of capacity lost, one more nudge towards the edge of your control envelope. Such can and should be avoid. But even the most skilled practitioner is severely hampered without their tools and assorted consumables. If you have a backpack, fair-sized purse, or messenger bag, there's lots of things you can carry with outsized benefits for the weight and cost. And wouldn't you like to acquire a reputation for being able to shove your arm deep into your Bag of Holding to pull out just the thing for any given pending crisis? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and you can do anything with time to prepare.

Here's all the things I carry - or feel like I should carry - as implements and material components.

PROVISIONS - Because the easiest way to stop functioning well is the same as the easiest way to lose the metacognition that powers the rest of this: getting hungry or thirsty. More broadly, a pleasant sensory experience or some sorely-needed caffeine can turn a slog into a lovely time. This first section's notable in that it'll depend heavily on what you actually like.

• Basic sustenance snacks. Literally just easily-portable food which is both shelf-stable and requires no preparation. My go-tos are granola bars and dried fruit; jerky, protein bars, and mixed nuts could all work just fine for you, too. Make sure to pick foods that have a decent amount of carbs, protein, and fat if you can!
• A water bottle is another clear include. If you want to go cheap, let an empty bottle of water find renewed purpose. Hard plastic water bottles like Nalgenes are a step up, and metal water bottles of varying types and volumes are another step up. 
• Morale snacks. Sometimes your body's doing alright but you need to feed your soul. My go-to here is the best orange chocolate you've ever had in your life, but I swap this around for the best raspberry chocolate you've ever had in your life, chalky-textured violet candies, and what's basically a hardened brick of peppermint patty filling.
• Pleasant caffeine, including tea. Sometimes you need to refresh your mind instead. If you know you need caffeine, plan ahead. My go-tos here are caffeinated chocolate and gum, because tea isn't remotely sufficient for me; the tea can also be a morale snack.
• Seasonings. Sometimes food's pretty bland in one way or another, and despite lemon being a common addition to tea and other drinks, few drink-adjustment bars - not sure of the actual name, the kind of thing you'd find at any coffee shop that has sweeteners, creamers, stirrers, probably also napkins - also stock dried lemon juice. I strongly recommend salt, sugar, and dried lemon juice; the sugar can also come in handy if someone around you is having problems with hypoglycemia. Other sleeper options that are somewhat less useful: tiny packets or bottles of hot sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce.
• On a meta level, eating utensils are surprisingly often useful and without good replacements. You can pick up those catering bundles - the ones with a fork, knife, and spoon, along with a paper napkin and a twin salt-pepper pack - from a cafe when you find them, or keep them from takeout or delivery. Chopsticks are also good to have, both as an eating utensil and as a way to manipulate objects without touching them and even spread paste; disposable ones can likewise be readily obtained if you keep an eye out.

REMEDIES - Some problems are too much for happy thoughts and nice snacks to handle. Headaches, scratches, abrasions; the thousand tiny shocks that flesh is heir to. Anything that you'd need to visit an urgent care for is well out of scope, but you can at least try to stabilize a developing medical situation. The little box that holds most of the supplies in this list started life as a first-aid kit before I started to stretch its purpose to something somewhat greater.

• Bandages, in a variety of shapes and sizes. This is easily a top-5 element of this list; adventuring out in the world means you get dinged up now and again, and a timely bandage can make the difference between an annoyance in an otherwise fine outing and an ongoing debuff that ruins it. Make sure to get a variety of sizes for all sorts of injuries, and make sure to keep them stocked.
• Proper use of those bandages requires a few other components for greatest effect. Alcohol prep pads are the classic for disinfecting a wound; benzalkonium chloride stings less but works both more slowly and for longer. Triple antibiotic ointment is good for promoting healing and further preventing infection ongoingly; as you can see, I've sprung for the kind that also has a mild topical anesthetic. Finally, gloves are semi-optional as a classic; they're for ensuring you don't infect the wound, don't get exposed to potential bloodborne diseases, and also have a way to pick up anything you'd rather not touch. I don't have them at the moment; I keep meaning to restock them.
• If you're confident in your ability to administer the kind of life-saving emergency care that's outside the scope of this post, you might carry around an IFAK. If that sounds like the kind of healing you'd like to do, seek out Stop the Bleed training.
• Assorted medications and supplements as needed are a must-include. You have access to any number of minor wonders in that department; make use of them. In particular, pill containers - both weekly organizers and single small ones - are an especially useful tool.
• First and foremost, if you take any medications or supplements daily, you might want to include those, if only a single day's dose. Similarly, if there are any medications that you take on an emergency basis, including those is practically mandatory.
• Other medications and such that you might want to have on hand include non-narcotic painkillers (your acetominophen or ibuprofen or naproxen or aspirin or the like; check which one works best for you, and remember: pain is meaningless to endure, just take the drugs), caffeine in pill form, antinauseants (dimenhydrinate, bismuth subsalicylate, ondansetron, or even good old ginger in chew or crystallized form), melatonin as a sleep aid, and especially modafinil as a wakefulness aid or patch for a night of bad or lacking sleep.
• As a separate consideration, antihistamines like loratidine and especially diphenhydramine are a must, for handling seasonal allergies, itchiness, and especially life-threatening allergic reactions. You probably know that epinephrine autoinjectors exist for such disasters, but it's important to understand that they cannot and do not fix the problem. All epinephrine does is give a patient the energy and drive to seek emergency medical attention and a better shot at surviving until an ambulance arrives. On the other hand, if (like me) the patient would take tens of minutes or more to reach a truly life-threatening state instead of seconds, you definitely want them to take diphenhydramine instead, which will actually halt the immune response. I don't recommend diphenhydramine as a sleep aid, though; the sleep that you get will be of extremely poor quality.
• Cleanliness may not be next to godliness, but it's still really nice to be able to access at need. Tissues for blowing noses, spare napkins for dabbing mouths and hands and wiping up spills, and hand sanitizer for disinfecting bare skin are all useful to have on hand. 

IMPLEMENTS - Thus far, almost everything I've mentioned has been an effective consumable of some kind, but that's by no means true of everything in a preparedness loadout. A skilled practitioner surely needs tools as well as consumables. We are tool-using animals, and working your will on the world becomes vastly easier if you accept that.

• A penknife and/or multitool tops the list here. If you know how to handle a knife safely, a small folding penknife is vitally useful for opening packages, mail, and sealed food containers, sharpening pencils, cutting fruit, dividing up chocolate, and trimming threads and wicks. If you often find yourself needing to turn screws, pinch things shut, or fasten bolts, then you might want a multitool as well or instead.
• If you know how to sew, a small sewing kit is likely a good idea for emergency clothing patching. Simple blanket stitches may not be pretty or what you want to use on clothing that you care about, but in a pinch it'll do. Safety pins are also useful not just for keeping clothing together but also making impromptu name tags and making emergency repairs to broken necklace chains - having a couple of them around was a huge help when my favorite necklace chain broke.
• Paracord unites and constrains where a penknife divides and frees. You can actually even make a rudimentary basket out of paracord and twigs - just look up how - and if you need to bundle something up or mark out a circle, some kind of rope is helpful and paracord is an excellent pick. For additional binding options, you might want to think about hair ties, rubber bands, and zipties. A small tube of cyanoacrylate glue is also something to think about here, but be careful with how you use it - gloves are nearly obligatory.
• Along similar lines, some electrical tape or duct tape can be a day-saver. Wrapped around a plastic card or a pen, you'll be able to unroll it as needed without lugging around an entire roll.
• A good pair of nailclippers can save you a lot of discomfort, if you tend to get hangnails or messed-up cuticles.

LIGHT & FLAME - "Mercy is found only in shadow, but there is color only where there is light." That may or may not be true, but what's certain is that sometimes, you need more light for fine detail work, wandering through the dark, and signaling; and sometimes you need a source of flame instead.

• I strongly recommend a headlamp, along with spare batteries for it. Phone lights are nice and all but phones can die, battery use is at a premium, and you will probably want your hands free.
• Small candles are surprisingly often valuable. Apart from being an easy way to carry flame from place to place at need, blackouts and birthdays both exist.
• If you have candles, you'll probably want a flame source of your own. The classic disposable lighter is one option; for my part, I favor electric arc lighters. 

MARKS & MESSAGES - We're not just tool-using creatures; we're sign-using creatures, too. Having tools for writing, making marks, and keeping notes can be as helpful for the world of signs, symbols, memory, and ideas as a knife or a lighter can be for altering the world of things. Fire, knives, and language - never leave home without all three, that's what I always say.

• First and foremost here, an extra pen or two, or whatever writing implement you favor. Pencils are good too. I like my combination pens - four colors of ink and a mechanical pencil all in one.
• Other marking tools are startlingly often useful. Make gentle marks on the world to leave notes for others in your adventuring crew - or to interfere with existing marks and marking-places. Few people realize that you can just carry around a whiteboard marker or a piece of chalk! Sharpie pens also fall into this category.
• Having something to write with is useful, but often you want something to write on, too. A small notebook - ordinary paper or waterproof "Rite in the Rain" both have their places. Along different lines, a clipboard can startlingly often be useful as a solid surface to write on, and it's even a good idea to use 

VESSELS & CONTAINMENT - Some things are useful because of what they're made of. Other things are useful because of what they're useful for. Still other things are useful because of what else they enable. Empty containers are precisely this last kind.

• Ziploc bags and even trash bags are generally useful for keeping just about anything in, and in good order. A trash bag in particular is almost obligatory if you're going to be out in nature for a while - pack in, pack out.
• Along more abstract lines, a good power brick helps you keep devices charged, especially in a world where having a cellphone is increasingly obligatory. Make sure to keep appropriate cables on hand!

EXCHANGE - There's just one item in this category: money. Having actual literal cash on hand is surprisingly often useful. I recommend small bills, maybe a couple hundred USD or local equivalent; $2s are especially lovely to have around. If you're travelling and cash is a good idae at all to have locally, make sure to have local currency, too. 

COMFORT & PROTECTION - The world can be a difficult and uncomfortable place, and you have the power to do something about that. It's up to you to make sure to, and to lend that protection to others.

• Earplugs help block out loud noise, especially at overvolumed concerts. Wired headphones do somewhat worse, but they also let you listen to music and take phone calls more discreetly.
• Sunglasses or a good hat are good for dealing with excess sun; it's not fun to be blinded by surprise. If it's the radiation damage that worries you, sunscreen is helpful to have on hand, if you don't reliably remember to apply it before leaving the house.
• If strong smells bother you, you might want to pick up a set of nose plugs. I didn't quite realize they existed either, but they do.
• Extremes of temperature are reliably miserable. Cold weather calls for iron-filing heat packs, while hot weather calls for a folding fan - and you can even get those with neat pictures or snide text on them!
• A clean cloth or two can save you in a pinch. Bandanas, handkerchiefs, and the like can mop up sweat, keep a broken strap temporarily together, shade the back of a neck, make for a clean place to sit, and even serve as a tiny improvised bag.

As a meta note, make sure to cycle through the consumables as best you can, using the oldest ones and throwing away anything that's no longer fit for purpose. bWith a well-stocked inventory of useful tools and minor goods, you'll be equipped to take on whatever travails your day throws at you. You don't need to have everything on this list at all times; I certainly don't. But even having some of these on hand - the ones that you get most use out of, and maybe even others I've neglected to mention - can turn a bad day into an acceptable one and a mediocre and uncomfortable day into a great one, and that means more slack for adventures. So get going!